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Before this year, esports at Rowan University had been entirely self-run by the students. For the longest time, it’s been up to the individual students’ responsibility to keep the club afloat. This upcoming season, esports is backed by a new manager, Tom Panico.
Panico has been making strides to help support the gaming scene here on campus.
“My whole job is to make esports into a valuable and successful asset for Rowan University and Rowan students,” said Panico.
Panico has a very ambitious mindset and hopes to make it more widely known and appreciated within the Rowan community.
“We support all kinds of other traditional sports teams here,” said Panico. “And my goal is to bring esports into the conversation with all those other teams.”
Colin Del Tufo, a graduate student who is the team captain of the Overwatch team, is feeling optimistic about the current state of his team members.
“They’re very autonomous and I really like that,” said Tufo. Which is great because they’re actively learning something about the game, trying to get better, and improving.”
Another squad that is enthusiastic about this season is the Marvel Rivals team.
Gabriel Makris, a senior computer science major, is the team captain of the Marvel Rivals team. Compared to other schools, the team members for Marvel Rivals at Rowan are in a much higher competition rank than others.
Makris believes they have a very high chance of reaching the top ranks this semester in terms of competing.
“I think we have a lot of potential to become one of the best teams in the Northeastern region,” said Makris. “I think we have just a big skill disparity in general.”
People who attend the esports club at Rowan all share a common interest: gaming. The esports club is not just a place for the students to hone their skills at gaming, but a place where people can harbor a sense of community.
Tufo encourages students with a love of gaming to give esports at Rowan a shot.
“A lot of times with college, you’re here to try new things. You could have a life-changing experience at esports, and I say you just got to go for it,” said Tufo. “You never know what you’ll get. But ultimately, when you put in more, you’ll get more.”
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